Bored, Restless, Dissatisfied
I've been reading a lot of non-fiction these days. Essays, memoirs, and the social, economic and/or political analysts that have had a recent boom on the Barnes and Noble front table have been keeping me up late at night. I'm surprised to find myself taking on the reading habits of my father who shunned fiction for its inability to capture his imagination. I used to think he was an idiot for saying so. Now I completely understand where he is coming from.
With the notable exception of Harry Potter (I love that little brat!) I've been finding myself rather jaded about fiction. I keep reading it like a writer hopelessly criticizing style, structure, punctuation, and story line. It is much like my complete inability to watch a film or a theatre piece without analyzing. The only time I can lay back and relax is when facts have been compartmenalized and analyzed for me. Then my mind can wander about in a field of information cheerfully picking little buds of knowledge and rearranging them in an attractive bouquet to sit on my mental mantle. I hate to say it, but non-fiction has become (GASP!) more entertaining than entertainment.
Why is fiction driving me crazy? Well, I keep running into stories that are, well, really boring. Or worse, have no real insight. Some are just plain style over substance. I'll admit, I haven't even been able to LOOK at a Tom Robbins novel in over a decade. I have found that most fiction is a not so clever mask for some kind of social agenda.
Maybe it is what I am attracted to reading. It seems counterintuitive that I should be annoyed by agendas (especially rather liberal agendas like my own) but maybe it's not the agenda itself but rather the lack of real exploration. Allow me to unravel my shaky sort of logic here, but I enjoy watching someone struggle with their own beliefs. I like to seem them challenged and either change their mind or discover that they are correct and they redouble their efforts at something or other. I believe that all great art begins with a question- not an answer.
Not so long ago I read the novel "I Don't Know How She Does It" and it (clearly) pissed me off. The story of a woman dealing with juggling a high powered career, a marriage and two young children was really a shallow, right wing morality tale about heartless careerism and its toll on the family masquerading as a feminist treastice on choices. Not only did the message turn me off but its onion skin bait and switch tactic made me feel cheap for having finished reading it. I felt no "discovery" in the story. There was no journey. It was just a straight shot from "Mommy works" to "Working Mommy is a BAD Mommy".
Now, I'm not a complete idiot. I know that nonfiction has it's agendas, too. But at least it doesn't pretend to be my friend while trying to sell me on a point of view. It is just simply arguing a point. That's it. No bullshit. Honestly, I have found more real journeys in the nonfiction that I have read lately than in the fiction. (The most notable and rather disgusting journey has been a book called "Rats"- gross but fascinating.) I've found more questioning and searching on the backs of cereal boxes.
It's the same with film, tv, and theatre. Boring, boring, boring. There is a reluctance to search these days. A reluctance to challenge one's self. Why do you believe what you believe? Are you right? Are you wrong? Does it truly matter if you are right or wrong? Are you contributing to a greater good? Is there even such a thing as "greater good"? When we stop searching, stop questioning we wither on the vine. Perhaps challenging yourself is painful? Hard on the ego to admit that you may have been mistaken? Is it giving "comfort to the enemy" to explore their position and find out what it is that attracts them to certain beliefs? Or would understanding make your position stronger?
I'm a pretty opinionated person. I am the first to admit that I can hold pretty tightly to my own assumptions, but I want to be better. I want artists and scientists, economists and politicians to be a part of the challenge. I want to see people struggle, like I do, with their visions of the world and themselves. If, at the end of the struggle, they come up with conclusions that might not necessarily be mine- so be it. As long as they make the attempt to look around themselves and really see what is there.
With the notable exception of Harry Potter (I love that little brat!) I've been finding myself rather jaded about fiction. I keep reading it like a writer hopelessly criticizing style, structure, punctuation, and story line. It is much like my complete inability to watch a film or a theatre piece without analyzing. The only time I can lay back and relax is when facts have been compartmenalized and analyzed for me. Then my mind can wander about in a field of information cheerfully picking little buds of knowledge and rearranging them in an attractive bouquet to sit on my mental mantle. I hate to say it, but non-fiction has become (GASP!) more entertaining than entertainment.
Why is fiction driving me crazy? Well, I keep running into stories that are, well, really boring. Or worse, have no real insight. Some are just plain style over substance. I'll admit, I haven't even been able to LOOK at a Tom Robbins novel in over a decade. I have found that most fiction is a not so clever mask for some kind of social agenda.
Maybe it is what I am attracted to reading. It seems counterintuitive that I should be annoyed by agendas (especially rather liberal agendas like my own) but maybe it's not the agenda itself but rather the lack of real exploration. Allow me to unravel my shaky sort of logic here, but I enjoy watching someone struggle with their own beliefs. I like to seem them challenged and either change their mind or discover that they are correct and they redouble their efforts at something or other. I believe that all great art begins with a question- not an answer.
Not so long ago I read the novel "I Don't Know How She Does It" and it (clearly) pissed me off. The story of a woman dealing with juggling a high powered career, a marriage and two young children was really a shallow, right wing morality tale about heartless careerism and its toll on the family masquerading as a feminist treastice on choices. Not only did the message turn me off but its onion skin bait and switch tactic made me feel cheap for having finished reading it. I felt no "discovery" in the story. There was no journey. It was just a straight shot from "Mommy works" to "Working Mommy is a BAD Mommy".
Now, I'm not a complete idiot. I know that nonfiction has it's agendas, too. But at least it doesn't pretend to be my friend while trying to sell me on a point of view. It is just simply arguing a point. That's it. No bullshit. Honestly, I have found more real journeys in the nonfiction that I have read lately than in the fiction. (The most notable and rather disgusting journey has been a book called "Rats"- gross but fascinating.) I've found more questioning and searching on the backs of cereal boxes.
It's the same with film, tv, and theatre. Boring, boring, boring. There is a reluctance to search these days. A reluctance to challenge one's self. Why do you believe what you believe? Are you right? Are you wrong? Does it truly matter if you are right or wrong? Are you contributing to a greater good? Is there even such a thing as "greater good"? When we stop searching, stop questioning we wither on the vine. Perhaps challenging yourself is painful? Hard on the ego to admit that you may have been mistaken? Is it giving "comfort to the enemy" to explore their position and find out what it is that attracts them to certain beliefs? Or would understanding make your position stronger?
I'm a pretty opinionated person. I am the first to admit that I can hold pretty tightly to my own assumptions, but I want to be better. I want artists and scientists, economists and politicians to be a part of the challenge. I want to see people struggle, like I do, with their visions of the world and themselves. If, at the end of the struggle, they come up with conclusions that might not necessarily be mine- so be it. As long as they make the attempt to look around themselves and really see what is there.
posted by Bree O'Connor at 1:43 PM
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